


About Time

by songofhell



Series: The Sorrow of Death [3]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-14
Updated: 2017-09-14
Packaged: 2018-12-29 17:57:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12090336
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/songofhell/pseuds/songofhell
Summary: Just as Sam and Dean are finally starting to cope with all their losses, Chuck and Amara show up.





	About Time

**Author's Note:**

> Thought I'd write something happy in this series to celebrate Supernatural's twelfth birthday.

“Last words?” the shapeshifter hissed, his knife pressing against Dean’s stomach.

“Just two,” Dean answered with a shit-eating grin. “Juliet, dinner!”

A second later, and the shifter was on the ground, being ripped apart seemingly by nothing. It wasn’t pretty, but Dean had gotten used to it after several hunts alongside the hellhound. He fished his glasses out of his pocket and slid them on just as Juliet finished and walked over to his side.

“Good girl,” he praised, patting her on the head.

“Dean? You good?” Sam called as he rounded the corner.

“Yep. And bonus, Juliet got to eat. Which means that steak we thawed out is all ours.”

Sam chuckled as he put his glasses on. “Good girl, Juliet,” he said as he walked over to scratch behind her ears.

“You find any others?” Dean asked.

“No, guess we were wrong,” he answered without looking up from Juliet. His hesitation about taking in Crowley’s hellhound had vanished entirely just a couple days after she had made the bunker her home. Now he was thoroughly wrapped around her… paw. “He was working alone, after all.”

“Huh.” He glanced over at the pile of hellhound chow on the ground. “He was pretty fast. Almost got the drop on me.”

“Or maybe you’re just getting slow,” Sam teased.

“Hey!” Dean glared at him. “I’ll have you know, I am just as fast as I was twelve years ago.”

Sam opened his mouth to reply, but before he could, Juliet let out a growl, and both brothers spun around to see another shapeshifter aiming a gun at Dean’s head.

“Shit,” Dean muttered, trying to quickly calculate if the shifter be too distracted by a charging hellhound to pull the trigger. Before he could tell Juliet to go for it, though; the shapeshifter exploded, and standing in his place were Chuck and Amara.

“Looked like you could use a hand,” Chuck said with a small smile, while Sam and Dean stared at them in shock.

Dean recovered first. “Where the _hell_ have you been?” he demanded, his eyes narrowed as he took a step forward.

“Dean,” Sam rebuked, but Chuck held up a hand.

“I told you that we were going away, Dean,” he said calmly.

“Yeah, but…” Dean shook his head. “Do you have any idea what all has gone down since you left?”

“Yes.”

His jaw set in anger and disgust. “Yes. Yes, of course you do, you’ve just decided that it’s not your problem, right?”

“Dean,” Amara spoke up, and he turned to face her. He still felt a slight pull towards her, but it was less severe now that he had a better understanding of it. “My brother and I just found out today. We distanced ourselves from the Earth to focus on us, blocking everything else out. Once we found out what had happened, we came.”

Dean deflated slightly, his eyes flickering from her to Chuck. “You could’ve just said.”

“You were angry at me,” Chuck said with a shrug. “It wouldn’t have mattered what I said. That’s why I brought her.”

“Chuck…” Sam said hesitantly, stepping up beside Dean. “You’ve brought Cas back before.”

He smiled. “I have.”

“Well… I don’t suppose-”

Before he finished speaking, Chuck waved his hand, and then Castiel was standing before them. Sam and Dean’s breath left them in a huff as they ran forward to hug their friend. Dean felt some of the hopelessness he had been feeling for months begin to evaporate as he felt Castiel’s arm come up around him.

“Sam… Dean…” Castiel’s voice was confused, almost in awe. “What happened?”

Dean nodded over the angel’s shoulder as he pulled back. “Turn around.”

As he turned, his eyes grew even wider. “Father…”

“Hello, Castiel,” Chuck greeted him with a smile.

“I don’t understand…. It seems as though every time you bring me back, I only proceed to make an even worse mess of things. I would have thought-”

“I believe that the good that you have done outweighs that. Besides, when the three of you are working in cohesion, you become the greatest force for good in this world.”

“Thank you, Chuck,” Sam said fervently, placing a hand on Castiel’s shoulder.

“Yeah, thanks,” Dean agreed. He looked at Castiel with a smile before his gaze moved back to Chuck. “What about our mom and Crowley?” There was no harm in asking, right?

Chuck’s smile faded slightly. “I can bring your mother back, but as for Crowley… he is a demon.”

“Yeah, and he saved the world,” he immediately refuted. “He _sacrificed himself_ to save the world – you don’t think that warrants another chance?”

“It was not for the wellbeing of the world that he sacrificed himself. And while that does not downplay what he did, it still doesn’t change anything. I cannot bring back a demon. I’m sorry, Dean.” He gave a small sigh as he waved his hand.

Dean’s greeting for his mom was no less enthusiastic than it was for Castiel, but it still felt bittersweet in light of the knowledge that Chuck wouldn’t bring back Crowley.

“I’m sorry,” Sam muttered, patting him on the shoulder as Castiel helped Mary process the fact that she was standing in the presence of God.

“Yeah,” Dean sighed, backtracking a few steps to pet Juliet because that was what he always did when he felt lost these days.

He didn’t hear Amara approach him until she spoke. “This was Uncle Crowley’s favorite hellhound.”

Dean looked up at her in surprise for a moment before nodding. “Uh, yeah… he kind of left her to me.”

She looked at him curiously. “He tried to kill you.”

He shrugged. “Yeah, we tried to kill each other quite a few times, but… I can’t remember the last time either of us actually meant it.” He gave a hollow laugh, looking down. Why hadn’t he realized sooner why he had never been able to go through with killing Crowley? If he had… and if he had acted on that realization… would things have turned out any different?

“You loved him,” Amara stated, a note of surprise in her voice.

Dean was about to deny it out of reflex, but then he sighed. “Yeah…. Yeah, I do.” His gaze snapped up to her again, a hopeful spark in them. “Can you bring him back?”

She frowned thoughtfully for second, and then she smiled. With a wave of her hand, Crowley was standing between them.

“Squirrel-”

He barely got the word out before Dean’s lips were colliding with his. And maybe he was making a fool out of himself, but he wasn’t making the same mistake twice. He was going to make sure Crowley knew how he felt, and he wasn’t wasting a second. At least Crowley was kissing him back. Or at least, he was until Juliet jumped up between them.

“Hey, girl,” Crowley said fondly, scratching her behind the ears. His eyes were still locked on Dean, though, and his expression seemed almost… hopeful. After a couple of seconds, his gaze slid over Dean’s shoulder, and the corner of his lips quirked up slightly. “Are you aware we’re being watched?”

Dean turned around to see his mom looking at them with an expression of utter disbelief, Castiel appearing thoroughly shocked, Chuck seemingly almost amused, and Sam was smiling at them. “Thought you guys were talking, or… something.”

“You tend to notice when someone suddenly comes back from the dead in your midst,” Sam said with a smirk.

“Speaking of which, how _am_ I alive?” Crowley asked. “I know it wasn’t him.” He nodded towards Chuck.

Dean turned back around, looking at where Amara stood behind Crowley. The demon followed his gaze and blinked in surprise. “Amara.”

“Hello, Uncle Crowley.”

“I… figured you hated me after our little falling out and then me aiding in the attempt to kill you.”

“Well, so did most everyone else here,” she pointed out. “And as for our falling out, I realize now that you were trying to care for me in your own way.”

“I was.”

“But really, I brought you back for Dean.”

“You did?” He glanced back at the hunter. “So, you two are still tight, I take it?”

“Crowley, can we talk?” Dean sighed, needing to get everything out there before he lost his nerve. “Alone?”

Crowley grinned. “After that kiss? How could I say no?”

He rolled his eyes, pointedly ignoring everyone else’s gaze as Crowley and Juliet followed behind him.

“Juliet, come here,” Sam called.

Dean glanced back to see Crowley nod towards the hellhound, then Juliet walked over to Sam.

“Glad to see she’s taken well to you boys,” Crowley commented.

“Yeah, she’s been great,” Dean agreed. “Saved my life a couple times.”

“Good. That is why I told her to find you, after all.”

“Wait, what? I thought it was so she would have a good home and all that.”

“No,” he shook his head. “Juliet is perfectly capable of taking care of herself. It’s you I was worried about.”

Dean was torn between feeling insulted and being touched that Crowley had been worried about him. “Uh… thanks, I guess,” he muttered as he came to a stop and turned to face him.

They faced each other in silence for a couple of seconds before Crowley spoke up. “So… you asked God’s sister to bring me back so you could snog me?”

“It was for more than that,” Dean sighed.

He smirked, his eyebrows going up slightly. “Oh?”

“Shut up,” he snapped. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you.”

“Alright, I’m listening.”

Dean took a deep breath. “I missed you. And… I realized something.”

“Your undying love for me?”

He glared at him. “What part of having a serious conversation is so hard for you?” He sighed shaking his head. “But… yeah… more or less.”

“About time.” Crowley grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him into a kiss.


End file.
